A store in Seoul displays signs for a boycott of Japanese-made products.
Photo:
Ahn Young-joon/Associated Press

SEOUL—Not a speck of microwavable rice is off limits in South Korea’s anti-Japan fervor.

A hometown brand of instant rice sold by South Korea’s largest food company had its national loyalty questioned recently after social-media users identified a Japanese ingredient among the local grains. The culprit: the 0.1% inclusion of a Japanese rice-bran extract.

Hello boycott

The company,
CJ Cheiljedang Corp.
, swiftly apologized this month and promised to swap in a Korean alternative. It was seeking to avoid a Japanese boycott that’s swept across the nation, triggered by a weekslong trade dispute between the two countries.

The campaign, fueled more by emotion than economics, initially targeted travel and marquee Japanese brands but has evolved into an effort to avoid any kind of Japanese influence.

South Koreans have amassed lists of Japanese products online, suggesting domestic alternatives to Hello Kitty dolls, cat food and chocolate. Boycotters recommended replacing Japanese anime-related merchandise with Pororo, a popular South Korean penguin character who dresses like a pilot. Boycotters can download apps that provide suggestions on the go.

South Korea’s beauty queens won’t travel to Tokyo for an international competition. Japanese racehorses aren’t invited next month to an international event, with the Korea Racing Authority citing “national sentiment” as a reason.

The dispute follows clashes between the two governments over reparations related to Japan’s occupation of South Korea from 1910 to 1945, including for Japan’s use of so-called comfort women and forced Korean labor.

Jeong Ji-won,
33, was headed out one day, and thought about wearing a pair of white sneakers made by Osaka-based
Descente Ltd.
He thought the shoes, which had gone unworn for the past month, would have paired nicely with his white long-sleeve shirt and gray shorts. He ultimately reached for his white Nikes.

After last month’s release of “Butt Detective the Movie,” South Korea’s netizens flooded websites with bad reviews and urged others to avoid the film. The children’s animated film from Japan, based on a popular comic, stars a detective whose face resembles a rear end. The film flopped.

In Seoul on Thursday—the country’s National Liberation Day, marking the end of Japanese colonial rule—thousands joined a protest, holding signs reading “No Abe! No Japan!” in reference to Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe.
Some wore white T-shirts that proclaimed, “I couldn’t fight for Korea’s independence but I will join the boycott!”

As recently as the 1970s, South Korea had a lower per capita income than North Korea. The country has sought to engineer an economic revival by borrowing some lessons from Japan, including in manufacturing. The two also shared close ties in culture, food and travel.

South Koreans hold up signs denouncing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a National Liberation Day rally on Thursday.
Photo:
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Unlike in prior clashes, South Koreans now have enough purchasing power and local alternatives to deliver a significant blow to Japanese businesses, said Chun Woo-yong, a professor at the Academy of Korean Studies.

A senior Japanese official said Thursday he expected the South Korean boycott to have a small economic impact. Even after
Samsung Electronics Co.
leapfrogged
Sony Corp.
, and K-pop trumped J-pop, Japan’s gross domestic product is three times that of South Korea’s.

The trade-offs are simple enough for
Yoo Ji-woong,
a 24-year-old college student. He has recently avoided 7-Eleven convenience stores—owned by a Japanese retailer group—opting to walk an extra five minutes to support a South Korean-owned rival.

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Local
Starbucks Corp.
shops have stopped ordering Japanese blends such as prepackaged matcha lattes. A South Korean YouTuber issued an apology for referring to rice cakes as mochi, a Japanese term, instead of using the Korean word of ddeok.

A photo circulated on social media of a banner for a sashimi restaurant, saying it would refuse Japanese customers altogether.

Joung Ha-yoon, a 29-year-old banker, had planned to travel to Japan for summer vacation. Three weeks ago, she ditched those plans and went to Hong Kong, where she chose local beers instead of her favored Japanese Asahi. Until the trade fight ends, she has committed to suppressing her cravings for a Japanese tripe stew called motsunabe.

That wasn’t too much of a sacrifice, she said. “You can’t even upload pictures of Japanese food on social media anyway.”

Sitting over a plate of salmon sushi rolls recently,
Han Ji-soo,
a 27-year-old food and travel blogger, has seen how the online reaction about anything Japan, including her prior trips, has become a sensitive issue.

“Now is not the time to promote anything Japan,” said Ms. Han, pushing the salmon roll into more favorable lighting. She still planned to blog about her sushi lunch, but “I’ll have to clarify that this place is owned by Koreans.”